Shoe shining machine



OV. 15, 1 932. M w SSSSS LL- v 1,887,906

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH NE s sheets-sheet 2 Filed Aug. 28, 1930 Nuv. 15, 1932. M. w. sPRu'LL 1,887,906

SHOE SHINING MACHINE Filed Aug. 28, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 NOV- 15, 1932- M. w. sPRuLL SHOE SHINING MACHINE Filed Aug. 28, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Nov. 15, 1932. M, w, spRULL 1,887,906

sHoE sHINING MACHINE Filed Aug. 28, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 MM. I

Patented Nov. 15, 1932 MoYn w. srRUILI., or rLYMoUTH, NORTH cAnoLINA snon sHINING MACHINE nppncauqn fiea 'August 28, -eao. serial No. 478,414.

This invention relates to shoe shining machines and one object of the invention is to provide a machine of this character having mechanism driven by an electric motor the s circuit of which cannot be closed until a coin is dropped into a coin Vreceiving chute by a person desiring to have his shoes shined.

Another object of the invention is to prevent the machine from operating until a person occupies a seat forming part of the machine and to further provide the circuit for the motor with 'a switch' adapted to be closed when a personls foot is in position for shining a shoe. By this arrangement, operationV of the motor will not take place--prematurely and, in addition, the current will be shut off while one foot is being removed and the other set in place and waste ofthe cleaning .and polishing fiuid will be prevented.

Another object of the invention is ito permit only a measured quantity ofV cleaning and polishing fluid to be dispensed each 'time a coin is placedin the coin slot and thereby prevent too much fiuid from being dispensed while being brushed toform apolish after the fluid has been applied to them. 'Y

Another object of the invention is to provide the machine with brushes somounted upon and thoroughly cleaned'an'd polished and to also so locate nozzles for the fluid-dispensing means that fiuid may be applied to all portions of `a shoe. By this arrangement,

f' thorough'cleaning and polishing of all portions of a shoewill be insurecl.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine of this character which-'will be compact in construction, and -very efficient in its operation.

The invention is illustrated panying drawings, wherein: i I Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved machine. i I

in the accomand also permit the shoes to be air dried thatall portions of ashoe may be operated.

vslidably received .in the columns.

Figure 2 is a'longitudinal Sectional view through the machine, taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 3. t

Figure 3 isl a longitudinal sectional View taken horizontally through the machine.

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional'view taken on the line LiL- 4 of Figure 3.

Figure' Vis an enlarged fragmentary Vsectional View illustrating the Vposition occupied by a coin when dropped into the coin chute.

Figure V6y is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken on lthe line V6-6 of Fig-V ure 3. o I V gFigure 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the mechanism for actuating the front brush. i

Figure 8 is a diagram of .the energizing circuit for the motor; i .1:

Referring to Figure l of the drawings it will be -seen that this machine includes, briefly, a casing orv housing 1, in which polish applyingand shining mechanism are mounted as shown in Figures 2 and 3, a'pedestalor hollow support .2 in whichthe coin chute and the .container for the'polishing Vfluid and control means for dispensing the fluid arerlocate'd, and a seat 3 to be occupied by a person desiring to have his .shoes shined. The pedestal or support 2 isl open at its upperend beneath the seat and .in order to support the seat there has been :provided tubular: columns 4 .disposed vertically in the ,pedestal2 with their lower endssecured upon the bottom 5 of the pedestal and rods or plungers 6 These p'lungers 6 rest upon springs 7 in the coluinns in order to yieldably resist downward movement of the plungers and the upper ends of the plungers are connectedwith the boards 8 of the seat by screws or equivalent fasteners 9.' ;It will thus be seen that the seatiwill be yieldably supported and may be pressed downwardlyby the weight of a person occupying theseat. An opening 10, throughA I which a persons foot may pass, is Vformed in the top of the casing l and, atone side ofthe seat, is mounted a block 11 having a coin slot 12 formed therein.

Within the casing 1 there is disposed a platform 13 mounted in an elevated position above the base board 14 of the casing and resting upon supporting tubesor columns 15 through which are passed securing rods or bolts 16, eachv of which may have securing nuts at both ends or a head at one end and a securing nut at its other end. This platform is disposed beneath the opening 10 and carries seats or supports 17 and 18 upon which the heel and sole of a shoe rest when a 'persons foot is passedthrough the opening 10 in order that a shoe may be shined. Bep' tween the seats 17 and 18 an opening 19 is formed in the platform and through this opening extends the plunger of a push button' switch 20. This plunger is yieldably held in a raised or openedposition and is intended to be pressed downwardly by a persons foot in order to close the switch when a person,s foot is in position to have a shoe shined. By this arrangement, a circuit for the motor can be closed only when a personis foot is resting upon the seats 17 and 18 and operation of the motor will be cut off while one foot is being removed and another passed through the opening 10 into position to rest 'upon the seats.

i Brushes 21 to operate upon the sides and back of a shoe are mounted above the platform for movement l'cngitudinally thereof and a Vbrush 22. to operate upon the front and toe' portion of a shoe is mountedabove the forward portion of the platform for movement 'transversely thereof. By this arrangement,

all portions of a shoe may be brushed, during a cleaning and polishing operation.

The brushes 21 are'securely but-removably mounted in clanps 23 which are loosely connected withthe arms 24 of a, yoke 25 by studs v26 and in order to yieldably resist movement of the brushes relative to thearms of the supporting yoke, there have been provided springs 27 Which are secured to the arms and bear against the clamps. By this Varrangement, the brushes will be pressed into yielding engagement with a personls shoe and also will be .permitted to have rocking movement as the brushes are moved longitudinally of the platform and the'ibristles of the brushes will have proper engagement with the shoe as the 'brushesreciprocate. A block 28, to which the yoke 25 is secured, rests upon tracks or bars 29 extending longitudinally beneath the platform and supported by brackets 30 and in order to retain the 'block or carriage upon the tracks there has been provided a cross bar 31 secured against the'block with its ends ,projecting therefrom and engaging the under faces of the tracks, as shown in Figure.

6. Therefore, the block or carriage may move longitudinally upon the tracks without becoming detached therefrom and it cannot have binding engagement with the tracks as y it is held against twisting novement by its engagement with the tracks.

The brush 22 is mounted in a manner similar to the brushes 21 and is removably secured in a clamp 32 loosely connected with the inwardly bent upper end of a bracket 33 by studs 34 and yieldably held against movement relative to the bracket bya spring 35', corresponding to the springs 27. This bracket 33 ias its lower end fastened upon a block or carriage 35 resting upon tracks or bars 36. These tracks extend transversely of the platform with their ends secured upon brackets 37 and a bridge or bracket 38, and by an inspection lof Figure 3, it will be readily seen that the brush 22 will have movement transversely of a shoe across the front and toe portions thereof, whereas the brushes 21 will have movement longitudinally of the shoe against the sides and heel portions thereof. Movement of the brushes must be so timed that there Will be no danger of'interfereuce by the brushes striking each other during their movement. A cross bar or plate 39 corresponding to the cross bar or plate 31 is secured against the under face of the carriage 35 with its end portions extending beneath the tracks 36 in order to retain the carriage upon the tracks and guide sliding movement of the carriage.

In order to impart reciprocating motion to the carriages 28 and 35, there has been provided lshafts 40 and 41 mounted in bearings l42 at right angles to each other andtheir adjacent ends carry intermeshing beveled gears 43 so that rotary motion may be' transmitted to the shaft 40 from the shaft 41. Discs 44 and'45 are firmly fixed to the shafts 40 and 41 and to these discs are pivotally connected pitman bars 46 and 47, the lotherends of which are connected respectively to the carriages 28 and 35. Therefore, When the shafts 40 and 41 are rotated the pitmen which have connection with the discs 44 and 45, will impart-reciprocating motion to the carriages and the brushes 21 will be moved longitudinally 'of the platform in proper timed relation to movement of the brush 22 which reciprocates transversely of the platform. The motor 48 I is secured firmly upon the base boards 14 with its shaft 49V extendingl parallel to the shaft 41 and the'motior shaft is oined to a shaft 50 projecting from a gear housing 51. VVithin the gear housing, the shaft 50 carries a, worm meshing with a worm gear carried by a shaft 52 which projects from the housing at right angles to the shaft 50, and is rotatably mounted in bearings 53. This shaft carries a beveled gear or pinion 54 meshing with a companion gear or pinion 55 on the shaft 41V and t it vWillV be readily understood that by this arrangement, rotary motion 4 will be transmitted from the motor shaft to the shaft 41 at a reduced rate of speed.

The wire 56' from one side of the motor is attached to the stationary contact 57 of the'switch and the wire 58 leading from the contact l59 carried by the plunger ofthe switch is secured to a coin chute 60 mounted in the pedestal 2 in substantially vertical position, as shown in Figure 4, Withits upper end communicating with the slot ofthe coin block 11; This chute is formed of conductive material as is also an abutment or contact 61 carried by a rocker arm 62 pivotally mounted in the pedestal by a depending strip or bracket 63. The other end 'of the rocker arm is forked as shown at 64, for engagement with a pin 65 projecting from a dev thereby causing the rocker arm to swing.

about its pivot and move the contact 61 upwardly from the posltion shown in Figure Ll, to that shown in Figure 5. When this move'- ment takes place, the contact 61 Will be dis-- posed close to but out of engagement with thelower end of the coin chute and when a coin 68 is dropped into the chute it will rest upon the contact 61 and be prevented from dropping into the coin box until the person occupying the seat rises and the springs 7 return the seat and the rocker arm 62 to their initial position. Since this coin 68 engages the coin chute as Well as resting upon the contact 61 to'which the power wire 69 is' attached, a circuit may be established through the motor and the motor energized as soon as the plun ger of the switch 20 is pressed downwardly to move the contact 59 into engagement with the stationary contact 57 It Will thus be seen that the motor cannot he energized without dropping a coin through the coin chute and also that as long as the coin is supported as shown in Figure 5, the motor ntt-;1.3`Y be energized by pressing the plunger of the switch downwardly and when a foot is removed the motor will be shut off until the push button switch is again closed. The power wire 69 and the other power wire 76 will be of sufficient length to extend outv of the casing and have their outer Vends connected with a plug for engagement with a Wall socket or they may be connected with a socket mounted in a. wall of the casing yto receive a plug carried by wires leading from'a suitable source of current.

i Cleaning and polishing fluid is to be applied to the shoes during the cleaning rid shining operation and this fluidf is stored' lin a tank or reservoir 71 mounted in 'the pedestal 2.y the level of the liquid in the tank being kept below the level of the spray nozzles to prevent overflow through the nozzles. An outlet pipev 72 leads from the bottom of the receptacle' into la'valve 73 supported in an upright position by a base 74 attached to the bottom or flooring 5 of the pedestal. This valve isnormallyopen and Vis provided with a stem 75which projects upwardlyand is connected With'an arm or bar 76 secured to the chair board 8 and extending downwardly therefrom. By this arrangement, pressure willbe Iapplied to the stem 7 5 When the seat is depressed byIthe weight of a person occu-v pying the same andthe valve Will be shut as king as a person is seatedjupon the seat or chair.

'A` pipe 77 connected With the outlet of the valve yextends forwardly at one side of the pedestal and then longitudinally ofthe ``hasel at one side ofthe table o'r platform 13,

as shownl in Figure 3.V Small tubes 78 and 7 9 lead from the pipe 77 near its forward end and by an inspection of Figure 3 and Figure ,is un'occupied, the cleaning and polishing lliquid-'will filll the pipe 77 andrise in the "lot pipes '7 8 and 7 9 to the level of liquid inl the tank '71 Which is kept below the level of the nozzles,-as be-forestated, so that the liquid will not unaided flow through the nozzles. V

t is, therefore, necessary to supply pressure and in order todo so, there has been provided a tank 82 from Which extends a pipe 83 connected with a .check valve 84 having -connnunication with'the p-ipe 77 by means of a coupling 85. Pipes 86 provided with check valves 87 opening toward the tank,` connect the tank with pumps 88 secured upon the base boards or floor of the casing 1 by clamps 89 and these pumps extend one-longitudinally of the casing and theother transversely thereof. The piston rods 90 of the pumps arep-attached to brackets 91 aind'92v `carried respectively by the yoke 275 and carlriage 35 and it will be readily understood' this arrangement, air Will bepumped `into the i tank andlthis air Will fioW from the tank through the pipe 83 past the check valve 84,

into the pipe 77 and serve to force the cleaning and polishing fluid through the pipe 77 and out through the tubes 78 and 79 and their nozzles 80 and 81. The check 'valve 84 preventsifluid from being sucked back through the pipe 83 and also prevents fluid from flowing through this pipe by force of gravity When the valve 73 is open.

When this machine is in use, a quantity of cleaning fluid is poured into the tank or reservoir 71 through an opening 93 formed in the chair board 8, it being understood that the seat Will be removed or tilted out of the Way during the operation.V Ai person desiring to have his shoes shined occupies the chair 3 and his Weight causes the chair to be depressed. vWhen this takes place, pressure Will be applied to the valve stem 7 5 in order to close the valve ,73 and the rocker arm 62 Will be tilted uponits pivot in order to move the contact 61V into such position below the lower end of the coin chute that When a coin is dropped into the chute, it Will rest upon the contact and establish electrical connection between the wires 58 and 69. One foot is then thrustV through the opening 10 until it rest-s upon the seats17 and 18 and the instep portion of the shoe Will depress thel plunger of the switch20 in order to make contact between the contacts 59 and 57. As soon as these contacts are in engagement with each other the circuit Will be closed and the motor lenergized. During operation of the motor,

the shafts and 41 are rotated'and reciproi cat-ing motion Will be imparted to the brushes 21 and 22 and also the pumps 88 Will be operated. These pumps force air under pressure into the tank 82 fro-mfwhich it passes through the pipe 83 and check valve 84 into the pipe 77 in order to force the cleaning and polishing fluid through the ,tubes and nozzles.

The fluid is delivered from the nozzles inl sprays Whereby to cause' the shoe and the bristles of the brushes to be sprayed with the fluid; The brushes thoroughly and evenly distribute the fiuid upon the shoe to insure proper cleaning of the shoe. After a suficient quantity of fluid has been applied to one shoe, the foot is removed and the other f'ootthrust through the opening into place. During the interval one foot is being removed and the other put in place, the switch 20 Will? open, thereby shutting off the motor and preventing Waste of fluid. After the second shoe has had fluid applied thereto, it is removed and by this time all of the fluid Will have been used as only a measuredV quan- -tity is contained in the pipe 77. The first foot is then again thrust through the open- -ing 10 into place and as'the brushes move across the front and toe portionsof the shoe and sidesV and rear portion thereof to produce a shine, air Will be delivered through the no zzles in order to thoroughlyv dry the shoe and ristles of the brushes if they are not already dry. W'hen the ,first shoe has been polished to the satisfaction of the person occupying the chair, the other foot is thrust into place and the other shoe polished in a similar manner. The person then rises from the chair and the springs 7 restore the seat to a raised position Which causes the valve 73 to again open so that the pipe 77 may again fill with cleaning fluid. At the same time, the rocker arm 62returns to the position shown in Figure 4 of the drawings and the coin drops into the coin box; By this arrangement, it Will be seen that the machine cannot be operated again until another coin is dropped into the coin slot While, at the same time, first one foot and then the other may be thrust through the opening 10 in place and the machine Will not operate until the foot is in the proper position.

lVhat is claimed is: 1. A shoe lshining `machine including, a

, foot support, a seat to be occupied by a person yieldably supported in a normal position and adapted to be depressed by the Weight of a person, occupying the seat, acontainer for liquid shoe dressing, a pipe leading from said container and having branch pipes leading therefrom a-ndprovided with nozzles adjacent the foot rest and above the normal level of liquid in the container, a valve for said pipe normally open and having operating means connected with the seat for actuation thereby to close the valve When the seat is depressed and means controlled by pressure of a shod foot on the foot support for delivering air under pressure to the pipe leading from the dressing container at a point beyond the valve therein whereby to spray dressing upon a shoe and subsequently deliver air thereon to dry the dressing.

' 2. A shoe I shining machine including, a foot support, a seat to be occupied by a person yieldably supported in a normal position tand adapted to be depressed by the Weight of a person occupying the seat, a container for liquid shoe dressing, a pipe leading from said 'container and having branch pipes leading therefromand provided with Vnozzles adja- "ccnt the foot rest and above the normallevel of liquid in the container, a valve for said pipe normally open, means to close the valve When the seat is occupied and depressed,`an

valve therein, a check valve in the second pipe to prevent floWof liquid into the air tank, pumps for delivering air to said tank, polishing elements arrangedto engage a shoe on the foot rest, and means controlled by pressure from the shoe on the foot rest for operating said polishing elements and the Vpumps Whereby dressing Will be sprayed upon the shoe and an air-blast subsequently delivered thereon to dry the dressing. 3. In a shoe shining machine, the combination of a liquid polish meteringchamber, nozzles directed toward a shoe positioned in the machine, pipes connecting the nozzles to the metering chamber, and means to deliver air under pressure to the lmetering chamber toV force polish from the metering chamber onto a shoesupported in polishing position and then deliver an air-blast to dry the polish.

In testimony whereof I afix my signature.

MOYE V. SPRUILL. [n s.] i i 

